Acting Strange Feeling Fine
by Mable
Summary: Eight's been injured and needs to get healed, but instead of Two he gets Five whose bizarre behavior raises some red flags. Eight does a little examination, of Five and himself, to figure out what has triggered this change. What could possibly cause such weird behavior? 5x8


**Mable: A one shot that I owed to 27's Fury to tie over for another request fic I promised. First time with this couple, I don't own 9, Enjoy!**

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**Acting Strange**_**; **__Feeling Fine_

Eight stumbled into the workshop with a clear look of pain stretched across his face. He tried to suppress the look now as he was inside the Sanctuary, not wanting the others to see, and leaned against the workbench as he waited for Two to come in and assist him. The Cat Beast had caught him from behind and sliced open a few stitches that certainly ached now. His hand rapped impatiently on the workbench as he wondered what was taking Two so long to appear. He exhaled as he reached back and felt over the broken stitches.

He then hissed at the thought and pulled back, "How'd this happen again?" He growled at himself. "I wasn't even using the magnet this time." He rubbed his head in exhaustion before he perked when he heard someone in the hallway. It was talking that sounded like both Two and Five muttering to each other about something. Two sounded normally cheerful while Five sounded nervous about something. Eight wasn't listening in and instead merely waited somewhat patiently for something to come.

That's when Five suddenly stumbled in, looking shy, perhaps even looking like someone had ushered him in. He gave a cock-eyed smile, "Eight, um, hello. H-How…" He cleared his throat, "How are you feeling?" Eight stared at him, unsure why he was acting so nervous or why he was asking him the question instead of helping, and he then spoke. "Well, my back's ripped apart. But other than that, I'm feeling great." Five gave a very uneasy laugh before pausing, "Wait? You have ripped stitches?"

Then he suddenly went into 'Healer' mode and approached Eight, circling him and nearly shoving him forward. "Here, let me see it." Eight fell forward as Five's hand touched his shoulder. It was gentle and somewhat soothing. Five always was gentle compared to the others. "Where's Two?" Eight felt the need to suddenly ask as the thought of admitting that Five was gentle made him feel a bit awkward. The Healer answered quickly, a bit too quickly, "He's busy. He told me to come in his stead." Eight raised a stitched brow, "In his stead?" The one eyed one sputtered, "Ah, well."

It was a bit comical to see the Stitchpunk with buttons acting so bizarre and the Guard chuckled a bit, probably a little high himself from the adrenaline of the recent battle, and Five looked down shyly. He got a little smile, though. "I can get you stitched up. Any internal pain?" The larger shook his head and the smaller smiled wider, "Great! Then it's probably just a fabric wound. It'll heal quickly." He wandered over to the opposite bench against the wall and went for a needle and looked through the spools of thread.

That's when Eight asked curiously, "What about Two?" The other didn't exactly look back. He turned his head a little, but didn't really look back all the way, and spoke, "I… I think that I can handle it alone… But if you really want- I mean- I could go get Two." Eight decided to wave his hand in dismissal, "It's fine. You've done this before, right?" Of course he had and Five chuckled a bit, "I have. Plenty of times." Eight continued, "Then I don't care. You and Two work together anyway." The Healer smiled and checked through the spools of thread, checking Eight's "fabric a few times until he found a good shade.

He then strung a particularly large needle with the thread and approached Eight. He pulled a stool beside Eight and began to look over the wound, "What attacked you?" He asked curiously and Eight quickly caught on to the fact that Five was probably distracting him to do the stitching and decided to do so. "Cat Beast caught me while I was outside waiting for Seven to roll in. Waited until I turned my back and got me from behind." Five hummed at the thought, "I didn't know there were many of those left… They're very smart."

"Yeah," Eight begrudgingly agreed and smirked, "I sent it away with its own problems. Nearly cut the thing's back leg clean off." Five let out an impressed noise, but Eight sort of though Five was really paying attention to his stitches and merely staged the noise to make the Guard feel proud. Eight wasn't about to argue with this and instead spoke, "It won't be coming back. Coming on my back like-." He stopped and hissed as a stitch came through increasingly painful, swearing, and Five stopped.

"I'm sorry. Are you okay?" His hand stroked over the tender section of the wound. It massaged into the fabric in a gentle motion and soothed the pain. Eight exhaled a bit, "It's fine." Five still rubbed the spot and the Guard was glad that the one eyed one was so willing to be hands on. Five was known to know exactly how to rub sore part of the Stitchpunk body and usually knew how to take care of a tensed up Stitchpunk when they were injured. Eight wasn't open enough to admit being in pain, so getting a free rub from an expert was actually quite nice.

He groaned a bit as he realized exactly how tense he was, resting his forehead against his palm; the Beast really had done a mental deal on him. He wasn't sure how long it would take him to get over the paranoia that would, no doubt, come soon because of the attack. The Seamstress was hard to recover from and he only hoped it wasn't like that. Then Five sharply inhaled, like he gasped, and his hands pulled back. "I- Sorry." He had gotten lost in actually massaging the fabric instead of sewing it. Frankly, Eight wished he wouldn't snap away, and didn't understand what was making him so skittish.

In fact, now that he thought about it, Five had been avoiding him recently. Five and he had a decent relationship. Eight was close to One, Five was close to Two, and One and Two were obviously closer than they let on. As such, the two of them shared occasional small talk and had no problems. There was some moments during the Incident that were testing, but everyone mutually agreed that the Machine Incident was to be used to bring them together, and everyone admitted that there was something each of them did wrong.

Five continued to sew as Eight pondered the thought further. Five was certainly avoiding him, strangely enough. He'd avert his gaze; common only with One. Stutter; occasionally occurring but now constant with Eight. Now there was this, him acting so nervous, and Eight was confused. So he waited until Five finished sewing and was putting his things away before speaking. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the workbench as the Healer put the needle and thread away.

"So is One planning some sort of ambush or something?" Eight tested with a raised brow and Five blinked in confusion, "What?" The Guard shrugged, "Figured it was something. You're acting weird." Now Five clearly tensed and looked back at the larger Stitchpunk, giving him a forced smile, "Weird? Me? Oh, no, I guess I'm… I'm just tired. Two and I were working on the new Watchtower and- you know- it gets tiring."

"I'll buy it." Eight voiced, "if you tell me why you've been acting like this only around me. I'm not stupid, Five, and I'm just stubborn enough to figure out what's got you so wound up." The Healer exhaled pitifully and Eight suddenly changed tone, "How's this Watchtower doing?" Five looked back, surprised at Eight's sudden change in interest; he then decided that it was probably triggered by Eight no longer wanting to deal with the previous issue, "It's great… Want to see it?"

With that, Five took the bait, and Eight inwardly smiled smugly to himself, "Sure. I've got nothing better to do." The New Sanctuary wasn't built in the top of a Cathedral like before. Now it was built out of the Library, which meant that the Watchtower had to be built atop the Library's roof, which meant it was quite a walk. Eight's back still ached as he followed Five through the corridors Two and him had sought out, up the makeshift stairs that looked like barely enough to hold his weight, and soon onto the roof above.

Usually it would be sunset, but it was overcast and instead there was a blanket of white clouds and a slowly dimming sky, which somewhat gave the illusion that it wasn't yet sunset and merely dark because of the clouds. The Watchtower was merely a shell, only having an outside structure that was lifted off the roof a few feet and circular. To get into the tower, Five revealed a small rope ladder that would most likely be replaced in the future and pushed into the workshop via a small trapdoor.

Knowing the rope wouldn't hold him, Eight just pulled himself up into the Watchtower, ignoring the protest in his back from the new stitches. Five helped him up as best as he could, pulling him into the Watchtower. There was only a single wall completed and, instead, there were a few stable supports created and Eight was unsure which would be covered and which would remain open windows into the Emptiness. There was no spyglass or anything else, but Eight guessed that the Watchtower wasn't yet that advanced to hold all of their items.

"We're going to work on the roof soon." Five explained, gesturing to the mere tent above, "We're thinking of taking some tin from the houses in the Emptiness to make it more resistant to the weather. That way it'll last longer." He explained and Eight nodded slowly before chiming up with, "Alright, so what's going on?" Five realized immediately what Eight had done; brought him up here to corner him, and watched pitifully as Eight kicked the trapped door closed, and decided to speak.

"I walked in on One and Two being… ah… Romantic." Five explained and Eight seemed taken aback. It meant since, that was a surprising thing to walk in on, but something about the realization made Eight feel disappointed. He wasn't sure what else he was expecting if he thought about it. "I remember my first time." Eight smirked, "It was just the three of us, so I couldn't say anything. Couldn't look at either of them for a few days without remembering it." Five smiled a bit, "It was strange, to say the least."

The Healer paused and the Guard had a feeling that the other was planning to say something soon. Then, finally, he did, "So… Umm… Could I ask you something? I know it's strange, but I… I don't think I could- can ask Nine about this." Eight leaned against the stable wall and the blueprints tacked onto it and crossed his arms, able to do so without causing his back to ache too much, "Shoot." It sounded like he was bracing for some sort of confession or something; Eight had enough Stitchpunks confide in him to know this.

Apparently attempting to be the strong and silent type lead too many people into believing that he was willing to listen to their problems. For the most part, he did, and it was part of the reason why his actions under being One's right hand man weren't taken as him enjoying tormenting the others. Except Six, but he had backed off since Nine had gotten so protective, and something told him that this was the reason Five didn't want to ask Nine. Eight predicted that it probably somehow involved Six.

"Have you ever thought about… About what it would be like to be with someone?" Eight's brows raised immediately and Five spoke up, "Not like One and Two were being. I meant being, ah, in a relationship. Being mates. Have you ever wondered what it was like?" Eight thought over this briefly, not answering at first, before shrugging, "Not really. Now I am, thank you Five, but not before now. Not exactly many choices, are there?" He was prying, he started to think that maybe this involved Six a bit more than expected.

Then he realized that Five had never outright mentioned Six and discarded this theory. This when Five chuckled a bit, "I guess not. But once you get your sight on someone it doesn't matter anymore. You've got someone you want… You don't think you'd want anyone else…" Then, in only a second, Eight caught exactly what was causing Five to act strange. "But… There's still a chance that this person won't return your feelings… For numerous reasons. There may be someone else, they may be too different-."

Eight interrupted him, "Or one might be missing an eye." Five clearly flinched at this and looked to the other. It was a pathetic look in which he knew that Eight had figured him out. Eight spoke up, "Is this about whatever's going on between Six and Nine?" Five looked saddened before nodding, "Yeah… It is…" Eight exhaled and knew that he wasn't going to be digging his way out of this situation anytime soon. The thought about Five having feelings for Nine or Six seemed to disturb Eight. He considered both him and Five unattached and destined to remain that way.

"So which one is it?" Five stared at Eight before correcting, "Neither of them, not Six or Nine, but… But I know what's going on… And it makes me think about me wanting to be with someone. I guess it's only natural to get lonely." He stared at the ground before he looked out at the Emptiness. "Two said I'm just reaching that stage when I want a mate… I told him there was someone in particular, who I have liked for a while, but it never, I don't know, bothered me until I realized that everyone else was getting mates. It was okay when I didn't realize that…"

He trailed off, "I'm sorry, Eight, I didn't mean to do this. I know you listen to One's troubles so you shouldn't have to listen to mine." Eight stared at Five's back for a brief amount of time before Eight realized something odd, an inconsistently. He didn't know why he noticed so clearly that Two couldn't have been with One because he was in the hall and, particularly, the one who insisted that Five work on Eight. Then everything clicked at once and Eight spoke. "You know, Five, I'm quicker than I look. I noticed that you've been around when Seven's sparring with me."

Five exhaled, "Eight, I know what you're thinking, but I don't see Seven as anything more than a friend."

"It's me, isn't it?"

From the way that Five sharply inhaled and reacted so horrified, Eight knew he hit the mark. It wasn't such a far stretch for him; Five's behavior was only angled towards himself, not Seven. The Healer looked virtually terrified at the other's comment and looked away, "I…" There was nothing else he could get out, "I… I just…." He didn't deny it though and Eight felt this strange feeling inside. He soon identified it as relief, but didn't exactly know why, and watched as Five covered his face with a single hand, "Eight, I'm sorry."

He got out and Eight stared after him before standing straight and walking towards the Healer. The one eyed one kept looking to the ground, his body tended to tremble, almost as though he was afraid of something. Most likely afraid that Eight was furious about his admission and planning to attack him or something. Instead, Eight just grabbed his arm, almost in a way as though he would if he would shake him awake. "Hey." Five didn't respond. "Look at me." He wasn't angry, he didn't even sound demanding, but Five spoke meekly, "I can't?"

Eight stared, "You can't look at me?" The Healer was even quieter, "No. I can't." He just stared at the floor and the Guard exhaled before deciding that bluntness hadn't failed him this far. He tugged Five's shoulder to make the smaller face him. Five did, feeling confused as the larger took his chin and lifted it, and then Eight spoke, "You know, I never said there was anything wrong with it being me." Then, suddenly, he claimed Five's lips, the buttoned one gasping against the action before quickly sinking into it. He wanted it, obviously, and he wanted Eight more than Eight could imagine.

Soon after, though, he pulled back. "What about Seven? Aren't you two…?" Eight smiled a little, "Nothing more than a friend." Five's voice was softer, "So, umm, maybe we could…?" Eight raised a brow, "Alright, but it's a little quick." Five corrected, "No, Eight, I meant-." Eight gave a quick, "Got it." Then took his lips before. They didn't need to say anything more to each other because their lips could work without sound. Eight was right about Five being a good Healer; he wasn't even thinking of his stitches at all, almost like they didn't exist.

_**FIN**_

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**Mable: This is my first 5x8 fic, but I hope to do more in the near future. ^-^ I hope everyone enjoyed!**


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